Rose M L, Birbeck M S, Wallis V J, Forrester J A, Davies A J
Nature. 1980 Mar 27;284(5754):364-6. doi: 10.1038/284364a0.
Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) lectin (PNL) has been shown to agglutinate the 90% of cells from murine thymus which are supposed to be immature cortical thymocytes. Further studies on the numbers of thymocytes binding fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated PNL (FITC-PNL) confirmed the large proportion of PNL binding cells. In other organs such as bone marrow, spleen and peripheral lymph nodes, smaller proportions of PNL positive cells have been recorded. PNL-positive cells outside the thymus have been reported to be either Thy 1-positive or null cells. It has also been suggested that PNL binding may be a marker for immaturity not only in relation to T lymphocytes but also amongst haematopoietic stem cells. Thus PNL binding as an aspect of lymphocyte differentiation is a matter of considerable interest. The current study describes the distribution of horseradish peroxidase-conjugated PNL (HRP-PNL) on frozen sections of mouse lymphoid organs. It seems that PNL binds to cells in germinal centres but not to those in some other areas containing activated lymphocytes. There is good correlation between the presence of PNL-binding germinal centres in frozen sections of lymphoid organs and the number of PNL-binding cells counted in cell suspensions from the same organs.
花生（落花生）凝集素（PNL）已被证明能凝集来自小鼠胸腺的90%的细胞，这些细胞被认为是未成熟的皮质胸腺细胞。对结合异硫氰酸荧光素标记的PNL（FITC-PNL）的胸腺细胞数量的进一步研究证实了PNL结合细胞的很大比例。在其他器官如骨髓、脾脏和外周淋巴结中，记录到的PNL阳性细胞比例较小。胸腺外的PNL阳性细胞据报道要么是Thy 1阳性细胞，要么是裸细胞。也有人提出，PNL结合不仅可能是T淋巴细胞不成熟的标志物，也是造血干细胞不成熟的标志物。因此，PNL结合作为淋巴细胞分化的一个方面是一个相当令人感兴趣的问题。当前的研究描述了辣根过氧化物酶标记的PNL（HRP-PNL）在小鼠淋巴器官冰冻切片上的分布。似乎PNL与生发中心的细胞结合，但不与其他一些含有活化淋巴细胞的区域的细胞结合。淋巴器官冰冻切片中存在PNL结合的生发中心与同一器官细胞悬液中计数的PNL结合细胞数量之间存在良好的相关性。
